My Expertise

My Expertise

Summary of expertise:Dr. C. Mary Healy is one of the nations foremost experts on pertussis (whooping cough) and developed one of the nations only and largest cocoon vaccination programs. Healys expertise has been called upon by multiple public health organizations, such as the Los Angeles County Public Health office and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

National and international journals have published Healys research on meningococcal disease, pertussis and maternal immunization.

Healy says the best way to prevent pertussis, which can cause death in young infants, is to immunize women anticipating pregnancy, as well as mothers , family members and other caregivers of newborn infants who are too young to be immunized. This vaccination strategy is called cocooning and is recommended by the CDC as the best way to protect against pertussis for infants less than six months of age.

White paper/research:Healys research focuses on preventing infections in mothers and their infants through maternal immunization and on improving vaccination rates in all age groups from infants to adults.

Healy continues to investigate methods to prevent pertussis in young infants through targeted immunization strategies such as cocooning. Healy has also investigated invasive staphylococcal infections in the neonatal intensive care unit and is auditing the impact of fluconazole prophylaxis on invasive candidiasis in extremely low birth weight neonates.

Books/articles published:Healy contributed to the book developed by the Center for Vaccine Awareness and Research at Texas Children's Hospital titled, "Vaccine-Preventable Disease: The Forgotten Story," which tells 17 true stories of families impacted by vaccine-preventable diseases. One of the families, the Throgmortons, lost their baby girl 44 days after she was born because she contracted pertussis from family members.

Awards/associations/memberships:Member, Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health of the United Kingdom. Member, European Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Member, American Academy of Pediatrics. Member, Infectious Diseases Society of America. Member, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.